Yuchi Lianghong listened and said with a smile: "With my lightness skill, if the distance is within 100 to 200 steps, I may be able to ride on my horse. If I continue to sprint at full speed beyond this distance, I will die of exhaustion halfway. Brother Zhao left the city immediately after hearing your order. While we are talking here, he may have already walked dozens of miles..."
Qiu Yizi sighed and said, "In the final analysis, it is because I was not careful enough and too impatient." He then said with relief, "In this case, it is futile to chase him. Brother is familiar with the roads in Luoyang, can you take me to the Guangyang Chamber of Commerce? I am in a hurry to get out, and my clothes and gifts are all there. Look at my clothes, I have worn them for several days, and they are almost smelly!"
Yuchi Lianghong smiled and said, "Okay, okay. As the saying goes, sharpening the knife does not delay the chopping of wood. Brother has been busy these days and it is time to freshen up. What's more, the death of Wang Zhonghai will do more good than harm to the court, the people, and the Prince of Youyan. There is no rush to announce the good news!"
Qiu Yizi agreed, sent He'er back, and came to the gate of Guangyang Chamber of Commerce with Yuchi Lianghong.
Many merchants in Guangyang City knew Qiu Yizi, so in order to avoid being seen, he found a wonton stall in the alley next to the Chamber of Commerce and sat down. He asked Yuchi Lianghong to go to the Chamber of Commerce and ask Zhou Cijing to come out with his clothes to pay his respects.
Zhou Cijing had met Yuchi Lianghong before, and he also knew that he had sworn brotherhood with Qiu Yizhi, the adopted son of the King of Youyan. Therefore, he knew that what the martial arts master said was true after just one encounter. So he called He Jiugong, took out the gift package that Qiu Yizhi had forgotten in his carriage, and followed Yuchi Lianghong out of the Chamber of Commerce.
Qiu Yizi saw from afar Yuchi Lianghong leading Zhou Cijing and He Jiugong towards him, so he called the owner of the wonton stall and ordered four bowls of pork wontons.
The stall owner saw Qiu Yizi taking up a seat but not ordering anything, and was thinking of ways to get rid of him, but then he heard him order four bowls of wontons at once. He was immediately overjoyed, and agreed without hesitation. He scooped out four full bowls of wontons with soup from the boiling pot with extremely skillful techniques and brought them to the table.
At this moment, Yuchi Lianghong, Zhou Cijing, and He Jiugong also walked over. Qiu Yizi stood up and asked them to sit down and said, "It's still early now. Have you eaten yet? I'll treat you all to wontons today!"
Soup wontons are a specialty of Luoyang, and even this small stall in the alley has its own unique skills. Qiu Yizhi scooped up one with a soup spoon, blew away the heat with his mouth, bit down half of it, and immediately the fresh soup overflowed, leaving a lingering fragrance on his lips and teeth, so he swallowed it with great satisfaction and said to Zhou Cijing: "It's been a few days since we last met. I wonder how the matter of my uncle's official salary is going?"
A wealthy businessman like Zhou Cijing originally looked down on the scattered food on the street. Seeing that the others were eating happily, he also took a bite to taste it carefully. But when he heard Qiu Yizi asking him a question, he hurriedly chewed a few times, swallowed it and smiled, "My nephew is so powerful that he asked for a letter from Prime Minister Yang. The next day, I took the letter and went to the Ministry of Personnel to ask for an audience with Minister Liang. I remember that there were at least 20 or 30 officials waiting to be met in front of the Ministry of Personnel that day. But the gatekeeper knew that I was introduced by Prime Minister Yang, so he opened the back without saying a word and asked us to go directly to see Lord Liang. Lord Liang was also very polite. When he saw Zhou handing over the gift list, he declined it, saying, 'If I accept the gift, I will not be able to explain it to the teacher.' It was exactly the same as what my nephew said."
Zhou Cijing's vanity must have been greatly satisfied that day, and he was beaming with joy when he talked about it: "Minister Liang chatted with me for a few words, and he agreed to donate the official position. He also said that if it was a seventh-rank official, there happened to be several vacancies in Lingnan Road, which could be filled immediately. If it was a sixth-rank official, there were currently enough people, and it would take some time to fill the vacancy. I thought that I still had to take care of my business at hand, and it was not convenient for me to go south to be an official, so I simply donated the position of Langzhong of the Ministry of Works. Although it was a nominal title, it was also a sixth-rank official!"
When Zhou Cijing said this, his face was already full of joy.
Seeing this, Qiu Yizi smiled and cupped his hands in his seat and said, "Then I want to congratulate my uncle... Oh no... I want to congratulate Mr. Zhou!"
Zhou Cijing was in high spirits and didn't hear the teasing in Qiu Yi's words. He said modestly, "What are you talking about, nephew? If it weren't for the prince's face..." When the title of Prince Youyan was mentioned, Zhou Cijing remembered the instructions before leaving. He coughed twice and said perfunctorily, "And with the introduction of nephew, how could it be so smooth otherwise?"
As he spoke, he took two packages, one large and one small, from He Jiugong, put them on the table and said, "This big package is the gift my nephew brought from Guangyang. I will take care of it myself and make sure no one has opened it."
Qiu Yizi thought that the package contained only a few old clothes that she brought with her, which she would throw away when they became worn out. There was nothing confidential or precious in it, so she took it without even looking at it.
Zhou Cijing added: "This small package contains a small gift from me. I hope you will accept it."
The uncle asked his nephew to "accept" the gift. If others heard it, they would think that the old man and the young man were hysterical and would laugh their heads off. However, they all knew the whole story and did not find it strange.
Qiu Yizhi took the package, and his hand suddenly felt heavy, knowing that it was either gold or silver, and asked, "Uncle, what does this mean?"
Zhou Cijing smiled and said, "I came to Luoyang to donate money for an official position. I didn't know how many docks I had to visit and how many officials I had to deal with. I even had to prepare so much for the gatekeepers that I had to fill up a whole car. However, this matter has been handled very smoothly, and it is all thanks to my nephew. I thought it would be inconvenient to take these things back to Guangyang, so I simply sold them all for jewelry and jade. I estimate that they are worth 50,000 taels of silver, and I will give them all to my nephew."
"Wow!" Qiu Yizi couldn't help but gasp, thinking, "This package is worth 50,000 taels of silver. If I receive 50 taels of silver per month, I won't be able to save up enough money even if I die."
Thinking of this, Qiu Yizi quickly declined, saying, "These things are too valuable. If I accept them, it will be hard for me to explain to my adoptive father!"
But Zhou Cijing insisted on giving it, and He Jiugong also supported him.
After a while, Qiu Yizi couldn't refuse anymore, so he said, "Then I'll accept it for you first, and then report it to my foster father, and he will deal with it, okay?"
At this point, Zhou Cijing had nothing more to say. He mumbled a few empty flattering words about valuing righteousness over wealth and treating money like dirt, then lowered his head and started eating the bowl of wontons.
They ate and chatted for a while, until they finished the wontons in front of them. Qiu Yizi then said, "My nephew's affairs have been settled, and I will return to Guangyang today. I wonder if my uncle is willing to go with me?"
Zhou Cijing looked embarrassed: "I didn't expect that my nephew would leave so urgently. However, I still have some business to take care of in Guangyang City, and I also have some new and old friends in the business and official circles who need to be entertained..."
Qiu Yizhi knew that Zhou Cijing had just become an official, and that he was busy with all kinds of welcoming and seeing off guests, so he said, "Since my uncle has important matters to attend to, I will not force him. Let's say goodbye today!"
Zhou Cijing did not answer, but asked He Jiugong: "He Jiu, do you have my name card with you?"
He Jiugong quickly replied, "I brought it, I brought it." Then he took out a wooden sign half the size of a palm from his arms and handed it to the host.
Zhou Cijing took it, handed it to Qiu Yizhi and said, "This is Zhou's name card. Please, nephew, with this, you can eat, drink and stay in any teahouse or restaurant opened by the Zhou family. Although it doesn't save much money, it saves some trouble. Please accept it, nephew."
Qiu Yizi took it and saw that there were only three big characters "Zhou Cijing" written on the black wooden board, so he smiled and said to him: "Then I am grateful. But this name card will be useless after today, and I have to make a new name card of 'Doctor of the Ministry of Works'!"
Qiu Yizi's words just hit the spot for Zhou Cijing, making him smile and say, "Okay, okay! When I return to Guangyang, I will first invite my nephew and the Third Prince to dinner."
After saying goodbye to Zhou Cijing and He Jiugong, Qiu Yizi wanted to pay for the four bowls of wontons, but he didn't expect that he didn't bring any money at the beginning. He then took out the lightest and smallest gold ingot from the package sent by Zhou Cijing and gave it to the wonton stall owner.
Unexpectedly, the stall owner did not dare to accept it, saying that this piece of gold could not only sell a few bowls of wontons, but even his stall could sell 17 or 18 bowls. In the end, Yuchi Lianghong took out a few copper coins and threw them to the stall owner, which was considered a solution.
Qiu Yizi felt embarrassed again and said, "I am grateful for your kindness today. If I come across a precious sword or a sharp blade someday, I will definitely buy it for you."
Yuchi Lianghong understood the meaning of the words and asked, "Brother, are you saying goodbye to me?"
Qiu Yizi nodded and said, "I feel bad for troubling you these past few days. Now that my big event is done, I will return to Guangyang. Although we have known each other for a short time, we are of the same mind. After today's separation, I don't know when we will meet again."
After hearing this, Yuchi Lianghong was very open-minded and said, "Brother, you are too polite. If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have had these adventures. My father once said: It's better to travel the world for a month than to practice martial arts in seclusion for a year. I have benefited a lot from this trip. What's more, there is a long time to come, and chances and coincidences are not something that ordinary people can guess. Who knows, maybe you and I can enjoy each other again soon!"
After hearing what Yuchi Lianghong said, Qiu Yizi felt better. She said some more words of care to him and then said goodbye and left.
After bidding farewell to Zhou Cijing and Yuchi Lianghong, Qiu Yizi then remembered that the old Prime Minister Yang Yuanzhi was the person his adoptive father had asked him to meet before leaving. It would be unreasonable and unethical for him to not say goodbye to the old man, so he walked towards Yang Yuanzhi's residence based on his memory of his first day in Luoyang.
The distribution of various areas in the capital city of Luoyang was extremely strict. The neighborhoods where Yang Yuanzhi lived were all private residences of officials such as Chao Zhihong. Therefore, there were fewer people openly setting off firecrackers to celebrate Wang Zhonghai's death, and the streets were much quieter.
Although the gate of Yang Yuanzhi's residence was not big, the two small stone lions of the "Thirteen Guardians" were extremely conspicuous features. Qiu Yizi spent a little time to distinguish it from the officials' residences and knocked on the door gently.
The one who opened the door was the old doorman surnamed Zhang. He seemed to have never seen Qiu Yizi before and asked, "Sir, are you here to look for someone?"
Qiu Yizhi thought: This is really strange, could it be that Old Zhang also took the poison prepared by Gu Mama? Then he said: "I am here to see Prime Minister Yang. I came here a few days ago. Does Old Zhang remember me?"
Old Zhang didn't even look at Qiu Yi and said, "I have never seen you, young master. My prime minister never sees strangers either. Please go back, young master." After that, he closed the door with a "bang".
Qiu Yizi was still confused and knocked on the door again, but the doorkeeper Lao Zhang didn't even open the door this time.
Qiu Yizi was anxious, and the knocks on the door got louder and louder, which startled several other families. They all leaned out to watch, and someone laughed in a wicked way, "Don't knock, young man. Prime Minister Yang has this temper. If he doesn't want to see someone, even if you climb over the wall to get in, he will throw you out the same way you got in..."
After hearing this, Qiu Yizi finally didn't dare to knock on the door anymore. She turned around and walked out of the alley with a lot of doubts in her heart. (To be continued)